What is Fostering & How?

Become a Dog Foster Parent Today

Give a pup a chance at finding their forever home by providing them with a place to stay in the interim. Our fostering program plays a crucial role in rescuing dogs off the streets. Although our ultimate goal is to place all street dogs in loving homes, the reality is that the number of stray dogs rescued far exceeds the number of adopters for rescue pets as well as the resources that welfare groups have available. This shortage of resources and demand sadly means that many otherwise healthy homeless dogs are culled when they are impounded.

If you’ve ever wondered how to foster a dog, you need look no further. We’re looking for passionate dog lovers who have a genuine interest in animal care and rehabilitation to take in a foster dog until we can find them a permanent home. Most of the animals we have available are not pedigrees, but they are capable of giving just as much love and affection with the right carer.

Once you have applied to be a foster parent, our re-homing team will be in touch with you. They will let you know which are the dogs who are in need of a foster home. The dogs who are usually in need of foster homes, are the young puppies, old and sick adult dogs, or injured dogs. Our volunteers will place a suitable dog with you, depending on your level of experience and availability.

The minimum commitment period for fostering is two months, but best till the dog gets adopted, to avoid having to shift the dog between homes. During this period, all medical expenses will be covered by SOSD, while we hope that you (the fosterer) can provide basic necessities and food for the dog.

How to foster a dog from our shelter

SOSD puts the needs of the animal before anything else and we only want to place dogs in foster homes where we can be confident that they will be properly cared for. To ensure every animal fostered out from our shelter is placed with a person who has their best interests at heart, we have developed a set of fostering criteria.

Our fostering criteria:

Minimum Fostering Period of 2 Months
We set a minimum fostering period of 2 months so that the foster dog can learn to adopt to your home, and does not have to keep moving between homes before they are adopted. We would be so grateful if you can foster the dog until they are adopted.

Everyone in Household Agrees to Fostering Dog
Everyone in your family or household needs to be in agreement about fostering a dog for a period of time and understand what is involved in taking care of the animal. If you are renting a home, you will need to seek approval from your landlord.

Children/ Infants Must Be Supervised When Interacting With Dog
When you allow your children to interact with the foster dog, it is important that this is only done under supervision at all times to ensure the safety of both the child and the animal.

Home Pets Can Get Along With Other Animals; Vaccinations Up-to-date
We want to make sure that your own pets do not get stressed when a new dog arrives. Hence, you should consider fostering only if your existing pets can get along with other animals.

While our dogs undergo vet checkups, and are all quarantined for 2 weeks on rescue, there is still a small but possible risk of carrying diseases such as canine distemper, as they were not vaccinated before. Many of them are in the process of completing their vaccinations, and for this reason it’s important to ensure all of your other pets are up-to-date with their vaccinations before the foster dog comes to stay.

You Must Agree to Home Visits by SOSD Volunteers
Regular visits are important to ensure the ongoing safety and welfare of fostered animals, and SOSD volunteers may ask to visit your home to visit the foster dog.

Prior Experience With Dogs Preferred
The animals we have available for fostering are mostly street dogs. Many of them have likely suffered some degree of trauma and as a result, need lots of patience and love to get better. On the other hand, puppies are often a handful, and we rely heavily on fosterers to train them in life skills such as basic commands and toilet training. This will allow them to be more easily adopted in the near future. Hence, if you have prior experience with dogs, this will facilitate the rehabilitation process greatly.

But fret not! We provide training for fosterers! So even if you have no experience, consider stepping up! With the right attitude and passion, you will learn how to be a great fosterer in no time!

Friendly Neighbours Are Preferred
If you have hostile neighbours living in close proximity who do not like dogs, there is a higher likelihood that they will complain about your foster dogs – necessitating premature removal of the foster dog. This will affect their rehabilitation as the dogs require a stable, long-term living situation for successful rehabilitation.

Consider The Best Fit For Your Household
Fostering a dog requires a lot of time and effort – and different dogs require different levels of commitment. For example, a puppy will require firm handling, and time to toilet train it; a sick dog will require you to help feed medications or even help facilitate bringing the dogs to vet visits. During our screening, please do not be offended when we ask you some questions on your lifestyle, or advise that a particular dog is not suitable for you to foster – this is so that we can find ensure the perfect fit for you and your foster dog.

Our Causes

Trap-Neuter-Release is a humane alternative for managing and reducing dog populations. TNR relies on sterilization of dogs to reduce breeding, leading to a gradual decline in numbers. In 2016/17, about 217 dogs on Jurong Island and 170 dogs in various parts of Singapore were brought in under the TNR program. Many of these dogs were […]

To provide all dogs at SOSD’s shelter with proper nutrition for three months requires 300 large bags of dry dog food (4,000 kg) and 300 cans of suitable wet food for the older dogs. To feed the 200 dogs at the Jurong Island shelter and 100 stray dogs on Jurong Island require another 1500 kg […]

With over 150 dogs under our direct care, we incur pretty large medical bills. In 2016-2017, our total cost of veterinarian services was $386,741 while the medical supplies cost $28,236. This works out to more than $34,000 a month. In addition to the medical needs of dogs directly under our care, we also provide veterinary […]